


Empty Soul

by Katrina



Series: Katrina's H/C Bingo: Round 9 [18]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Exhaustion, Gen, H/C bingo, Ichigo needs a hug, my fandom of the moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 19:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15613851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrina/pseuds/Katrina
Summary: Ichigo misses the voices in his head.





	Empty Soul

Ichigo was getting tired of memorizing the ceiling of his bedroom. 

It was the same, night after night. He was getting an hour or three of sleep before waking up do to nightmares. 

The nightmares themselves varied. Everything from Karakura being destroyed, to feeling the pain of his powers draining away from him again. His nightmares were colorful and in full surround sound anymore.

It wasn’t the nightmares that were the problems, though. Not really. Ichigo had been having regular nightmares since he had invaded Soul Society. It was the fact that he wasn’t able to go back to sleep after he woke up.

The echo in his own head, where there had always been a warmth before, kept him from finding sleep again easily. It made it hard to get to sleep in the first place, and Ichigo was tired. 

He was doing everything he could to exhaust himself, hoping that would help him sleep at night. Joining the various sports teams, working more hours than he should be at Unagiya, it was all part of his attempt. If he did enough, sometimes it was easier to fall asleep.

Then he’d wake up, and spend most of the night staring at the ceiling. Kon sometimes joined him, and they’d talk quietly through the night. It helped some, but Ichigo spent most of his time looking blankly up at nothing. 

The rest of the time, he got up and began working on schoolwork. No point of ignoring it, since he was up anyway. 

None of the others asked him about the shadows under his eyes. Well, most of them. Keigo didn’t ask so much, but he seemed to be the best at asking questions that needed to be asked. Ichigo would never volunteer the information, but he was willing to answer questions. 

It helped, now and then. After talking to Keigo, who was surprisingly calm during these chats, Ichigo would feel better. And he’d get a few more hours of sleep for a couple of days. Then the empty echo in his own brain would start to bother him again.

Honestly, Ichigo never realized how much he experienced was not exactly common. It wasn’t just seeing ghosts. So many sounds and smells he’d lived with all his life had been more spiritual in nature than mortal, and it was all gone to him now.

If he’d never had access to it, Ichigo wouldn’t have missed it. But the world seemed so muffled now that he’d lost an entire layer of it. 

Rubbing a tired fist over aching eyes, Ichigo took a deep breath and looked at his clock. It was early enough for him to go ahead and get up. Start some coffee and get some energy built up by moving around. He’d beat Yuzu to breakfast today. It would be a nice surprise for his sisters, waking up to breakfast almost ready. 

Imaging their faces put a smile on Ichigo’s. He’d get over this, sooner or later. Karin and Yuzu needed him, and Ichigo refused to let them down. No matter how exhausted and dragging he felt.


End file.
